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Farmers contend that they are being unfairly forced to pay for the redistribution of wealth, especially since they were the ones who spearheaded the nation's recovery from economic collapse from 2001 to 2002.

Analysts and economists agree that the farm crisis has cooled an economy that had been showing solid growth.

Fernandez argued that the tax pays for government increases in seniors' pensions and help for the poor. She rejected the farmers' demand for a repeal of the export tax as "extortion."

On Wednesday, a group of farmers said they delivered 1 million signatures to Congress to press for legislation that would cut the withholding tax and the export tax on grains.

The government resisted the efforts.

"It has been clearly shown that they have no intention of solving this problem," Minister of Interior Florencio Randazzo said.

"We are always open to dialogue, but it has to be understood that the government is not going to accept the imposition of any sector, most of all when the imposition of the decision of that sector attacks the Argentine people," he said.